Tom Selleck Western Collection (Monte Walsh / Last Stand at Saber River / Crossfire Trail)

Tom Selleck rides tall in the saddle in this TNT trifecta
Tom Selleck starred in three excellent Westerns made for TNT between 1997 and 2003, and all three are now being made available in one collection. Here are brief synopses and reviews of each individual film:

"Last Stand at Saber River" - 4 stars

Selleck is Paul Cable, a Confederate cavalryman who has come home from the Civil War (only slightly) early. He knows the war is lost for the South, he is worn out, and he only wants to take his family back to their homestead in Arizona to live a normal life. His wife, who was told that he was dead, is less than thrilled to have him back home because she is resentful that he left to fight in the war in the first place. Suzy Amis does an excellent job as Martha Cable. She is not the stereotypical beauty who runs around in a bustle under fancy dresses. She is a tough frontierswoman who has experienced many hardships and gets her husband out of some tight spots as the movie progresses.

While the majority of the...

Semi-Review . . .
Tom Selleck & Sam Elliott are perhaps my favorite cowboys ever; their dedication to keeping the Western alive has produced some of the finest of modern entries in this disappearing genre. Though it's nice to see more coming into theaters, like "The Proposition," "Seraphim Falls," "3:10 to Yuma" and "The Assassination of Jesse james by the Coward Robert Ford," none of these films (though all very good in their own right) don't capture the quality or flavor of the classic Western. Selleck & Elliot's films do capture this spirit, and they do it flawlessly.

It's nice to see these three great Selleck Westerns, "Last Stand at Saber River," "Crossfire Trail" and "Monte Walsh," together in one package. My only complaint is that there isn't a similar set being released to house Elliot's "Conagher," "The Desperate Trail," and "You Know My Name"! I think these are all owned by the same studios, so why not synchronize releases? Anyway, here's to hoping that it's not too far...

HEIR APPARENT TO JOHN WAYNE
I grew up at a time when westerns dominated television and John Wayne was the world's #1 movie star so it was inevitable that westerns would become my favorite film genre.

And then suddenly, westerns just seemed to drop off the face of the earth and with the exception of the occasional film - Unforgiven / Dances With Wolves and a few others, this genre was verging on extinction.

But thank goodness for people like Clint (in his earlier years), Sam Elliot and Tom Selleck, who have done their very best to keep the western alive.

This collection of Tom Selleck's TNT / made-for-television films is a wonderful addition to anybody's collection of great western films. Tom is a very believable and credible cowboy, who epitomizes the code that many western men of the late 19th century lived by - honor/ integrity.

We, of course, had our first glimpse of Tom as a western star in some of his earlier films - The Sacketts / The Shadow Riders / Quigley Down...

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